Civil War 150th

[ilovestrategy]

ORIGINAL: Capt. Harlock

driving off at least one infantry advance with grapeshot.

Ugh. I don't even want to think of that!

[planner 3]

I can't get over the "gentlemens approach" to this war, ie: lines of opposing foes facing each other, in plain view. I often wonder what the outcome would have been if stalk and stealth methods were utilized on the battlefield, with the weapons that were common in that time period. Grape shot would not have been so effective, nor solid shot, Gatling would have been effective IMHO. Just pondering ???
After all less that 100 years prior we used that approach in the Revolutionary War. (Yes I know we also fought it with Napoleonic battles also). We did great in the Revoluntionary war in the South with hit-and-run tactics against Cornwallis. You may burn this after reading as it serves no real purpose.

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

The Confederate government picked up more Native American allies by signing treaties with the Shawnee and Seneca Nations. However, the Seneca at least were divided, and some of their men joined the Union forces instead. Most prominent, as mentioned above, was Ely Parker:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ely_S._Parker


Ulysses S. Grant is the man standing wearing the hat, Parker is at the far right in this photo.

[Capt. Harlock]

I can't get over the "gentlemens approach" to this war, ie: lines of opposing foes facing each other, in plain view. I often wonder what the outcome would have been if stalk and stealth methods were utilized on the battlefield, with the weapons that were common in that time period. Grape shot would not have been so effective, nor solid shot, Gatling would have been effective IMHO

The Civil War was fought with all kinds of tactics, including cavalry raids, long-range artillery bombardment, and some very ugly episodes of guerilla warfare. The reason there were so many set-piece battles was that the defence very often had time to prepare the battlefield. They naturally selected positions with a clear view of the approaching troops.

True, there was at least one major battle in woods, the Wilderness, where neither grapeshot nor solid shot did much good. Explosive-packed shells made up for both by setting the woods on fire.

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

The London Post published an editorial favoring the Confederacy, heating up the newspaper struggle, and indeed the controversy throughout the whole of Britain about the war being fought on the other side of the Atlantic. Generally, the British upper classes favored the South, which they saw as more civilized than the "newly rich" Northern society. But the workers tended to sympathize with the industrial North, and no one in England cared to be seen as supporting slavery or rebellion. The London Times, even though its correspondent William Howard Russell wrote critiques of the Union Army, had editorialized against secession.

And Britain was the world's superpower at that point. Especially, the Royal Navy could easily break the Union blockade, should Britain recognize the Confederacy and start trade. Already Britain had declared neutrality but recognized Confederate privateers as lawful belligerent vessels, which allowed them to re-supply at the ports of the British Empire in the Caribbean and Canada. And where Britain led, France, Russia, and the other lesser powers were likely to follow.

[planner 3]

Aye! Capt. Thank you for reply, it makes it clearer now, your articles are some of the best reading I done in 79 years.

Much appreciated, planner 3 (AKA Chief)

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

Cherokee Chief John Ross signed a treaty transferring all obligations due to the Cherokee from the U.S. to the Confederacy. The treaty specified the Cherokee would receive protection, food, livestock, tools, and a delegate to the Confederate Congress at Richmond. (Similar to the Choctaw and Chickasaw.) In exchange, the Cherokee would provide ten companies of irregular cavalry, and permit military posts and the construction of roads within the Cherokee Nation. However, no Cherokee regiment was to be required to serve outside Indian Territory.

Ross and the men supporting him then turned to writing a Declaration of Causes to explain the transfer of allegiance. A remarkably eloquent document, it would be published near the end of the month.

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

Robert Anderson, the North's hero of Fort Sumter, was having more and more problems with his health. He had been in command of the Department of the Cumberland, including the key state of Kentucky. On this day, William T. Sherman took over from Anderson.

But it was trading bad for worse. Sherman's self-confidence had not recovered from the defeat at First Bull Run, and he felt himself unsuited to for such a large command. More, he over-estimated the strength of the pro-Southern forces in the area, and would soon suffer what looks to modern historians like a nervous breakdown.

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

Fort Pickens, on Santa Rosa Island off Pensacola, Florida, had been the only other major Southern fort besides Fort Sumter to stay in Union hands when the Southern states seceded. Its garrison had been increased to 600 men, and other camps had been set up on the forty-mile-long island to hold them all. Now, Confederate General Richard Anderson crossed from the mainland to the island with 1,200 men in two small steamers to surprise the Union camps on the island and capture Fort Pickens.

Anderson landed on the north beach about four miles east of the fort. After proceeding about three miles, the Confederates surprised the 6th Regiment, New York Volunteers, in its camp and routed it. But this lost the element of surprise for the rebels. Anderson then adopted a defensive stance to entice the Federals to leave the fort and attack. Fort commander Colonel Harvey Brown granted Anderson's wish, making a sally against the Confederates. Unfortunately for the Southerners, Brown's men fought well, and General Anderson was badly wounded. With their leader down and Northern reinforcements arriving, the rebels reembarked and returned to the mainland.

Union casualties were 67 total: 14 killed, 29 wounded, 24 captured or missing. Confederate casualties were 87 total of which 30-40 were killed. Fort Pickens would stay in Federal hands permanently, and when the Confederate army evacuated Pensacola the next May, the Union garrison took the city.

[ilovestrategy]

I love reading about these battles that no one knows about. Thanks again Capt. for these posts!

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

President Davis had selected James Mason and John Slidell to be the "commissioners" to Britain and France. Mason especially would have his work cut out for him: the United States envoy, known more formally as the envoy extraordinary to the Court of St. James, was Charles Francis Adams. Adams was already gaining influence, helped by the fact that he was American political "royalty". He was the grandson of John Adams, and the son of John Quincy Adams, who had both held the position before they had become President.

But the South's biggest problem was getting its commissioners across the Atlantic. Although Fort Sumter was now in Confederate hands, five Union warships were patrolling the waters off Charleston. And they knew what they were looking for: Northern intelligence had learned of Mason and Slidell.

The steamer Gordon had a shallow enough draught to use the back channels and could make over 12 knots, enough to outrun the great majority of warships at that time. Purchased by a local cotton magnate and renamed the Theodora, the ship left Charleston in the dead of night with Mason and Slidell aboard. She successfully evaded the Union ships, and headed for Nassau.

[Perturabo]

ORIGINAL: ilovestrategy

I love reading about these battles that no one knows about. Thanks again Capt. for these posts!

[Fred98]

If the commissionars reached London and Paris, how would the president comunicate with them?

-

[Capt. Harlock]

If the commissionars reached London and Paris, how would the president comunicate with them?

A fair question. Ordinarily, ambassadors receive their instructions by messages in diplomatic pouches, which are supposed to be immune from inspection. However, the South's envoys were not recognized as ambassadors, since the Confederate States had not been recognized as a nation by any of the major powers. Therefore, the "despatches" to and from Mason and Slidell were considered military information, like battle plans or warship blueprints. Under international law, neutral vessels were not permitted to carry the despatches of belligerents.

To solve this problem, the Confederacy established a network of international agents/spies to carry various messages and also the money needed for the operations abroad, such as purchasing weapons and other supplies. Women were frequently chosen for this work, since the gallantry of the time meant they were much less likely to be searched. Perhaps the most famous was Rose O'Neil Greenhow, who eventually drowned because she was carrying $2,000 in gold (a hefty sum in those days) when she fell overboard.

[nicwb]

I'm surprised that the Union's intelligence service picked it up unless that means it was announced in some local Richmond newspaper [8|]- I've seen less about the Union service than the Confederate. I understand McClellan relied on Pinkertons and they habiyually overstated confederate troop numbers.

[ilovestrategy]

ORIGINAL: nicwb

I'm surprised that the Union's intelligence service picked it up unless that means it was announced in some local Richmond newspaper [8|]-

That's what I was thinking also.

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

Union Intelligence had mistakenly assumed that commissioners Mason and Slidell were aboard the fast steamer Nashville, which was sailing directly to Europe. Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles ordered that the USS James Adger be sent in pursuit. Meanwhile, the Theodora (the ship Mason and Slidell were actually on)had missed a British steamer at Nassau, and had turned towards Cuba, where there was regular British mail service. On this date, the Theodora met with a Spanish warship off the coast of Cuba, which told them that they had just missed the British "packet", the ship carrying mail and passengers. The next one would be in three weeks. But the Theodora's coal bunkers were almost empty, so it was decided to disembark in Cuba and wait. Spanish Cuba was neutral territory, and the Union could do nothing there.

Elsewhere, especially in Kentucky, attitudes about slaves and slavery were slow to change. William T. Sherman received word that one of his regiments was refusing to give up runaway slaves who had made it into their camp. Since Kentucky was now officially a Union state, the Fugitive Slave Act required that such runaways be returned. Sherman, who appears to have been prejudiced against blacks in general, wrote to the regiment's colonel:

[font="Times New Roman"][center]The laws of the United States and of Kentucky, all of which are binding on us, compel us to surrender a runaway negro on application of negros owner or agent. I believe you have not been instrumental in this, but my orders are that all negroes shall be delivered up on claim of the owner or agent. Better keep the negroes out of your camp altogether, unless you brought them along with the regiment.[/center][/font]

Interestingly, Sherman would change his mind later in the war. It was he who issued Special Field Orders No. 15, the start of "Forty acres and a mule".

[ilovestrategy]

Sherman started that? I did not know that.

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

James Mason and John Slidell disembarked from the Theodora onto Cuban soil. Since Cuba at that time belonged to Spain, there seemed to be no need to keep their presence a secret, especially with the U. S. Navy chasing after the Nashville. There was also sympathy for the South in Cuba; slavery there would not be abolished until 1886. Mason and Slidell were welcomed as house guests by a wealthy man named Casanova, whose wife owned a plantation in Virginia, since they had to wait three weeks for the next British mail packet ship.

But in another Cuban harbor, Cienfuegos, was the USS San Jacinto, captained by one Charles Wilkes. He had actually come there in a fruitless chase after the Confederate commerce raider Sumter. Soon he would learn of Mason and Slidell, and he was not a man to be content with doing nothing. Secretary of State Seward had been warned by a friend in the Treasury Department, "He will give us trouble. He has a superabundance of self-esteem and a deficiency of judgment."

[ilovestrategy]

ORIGINAL: Capt. Harlock

150 Years Ago Today:

James Mason and John Slidell disembarked from the Theodora onto Cuban soil. Since Cuba at that time belonged to Spain, there seemed to be no need to keep their presence a secret, especially with the U. S. Navy chasing after the Nashville. There was also sympathy for the South in Cuba; slavery there would not be abolished until 1886. Mason and Slidell were welcomed as house guests by a wealthy man named Casanova, whose wife owned a plantation in Virginia, since they had to wait three weeks for the next British mail packet ship.

But in another Cuban harbor, Cienfuegos, was the USS San Jacinto, captained by one Charles Wilkes. He had actually come there in a fruitless chase after the Confederate commerce raider Sumter. Soon he would learn of Mason and Slidell, and he was not a man to be content with doing nothing. Secretary of State Seward had been warned by a friend in the Treasury Department, "He will give us trouble. He has a superabundance of self-esteem and a deficiency of judgment."

Oh, you need to continue this! [&o]